This is the frequently asked questions (FAQ) list for
rec.arts.sf.written. If you have written something you think
belongs in the FAQ that you don't see here and want included,
please send it to me, Evelyn Leeper (eleeper@optonline.net), as
well as any corrections or additions you think should be made.

[Oh, and in answer to a somewhat frequently asked question,
Evelyn in this case is a woman's name.]

rec.arts.sf.written is a newsgroup devoted to discussions of
written SF. It is a high-volume newsgroup and this article is
intended to help reduce the number of unnecessary postings,
thereby making it more useful and enjoyable to everyone.

"ObSF" means an obligatory reference to SF--i.e., something put in
to make an otherwise off-topic post on-topic. It has also come to
be used to insert an SFnal reference to the topic at hand.

"SFnal" means "science fictional."

"AOL" means "I agree," because people who use AOL as their ISP have
a reputation for quoting an entire post and then saying "I agree!"
at the end.

"YASID" means "Yet Another Story ID" request (see item 1).

If you have not already done so, please read the articles in
news.announce.newusers. They contain a great deal of useful
information about network etiquette and convention.

If you have any bibliographic or similar questions, please try the
Internet Speculative Fiction Database at
http://www.isfdb.org

Before we begin, a piece of net.etiquette. This is mentioned in
news.announce.newusers, but since it is so frequently violated,
and is particularly relevant to this group, we mention it here:

SPOILER WARNINGS: Many people feel that much of the enjoyment of
a book is ruined if they know certain things about it, especially
when those things are surprise endings or mysteries. On the other
hand, they also want to know whether or not a book is worth
reading, or they may be following a particular thread of
conversation where such information may be revealed. The solution
to this is to put the words SPOILER in your header, or in the text
of your posting. You can also put a ctl-L character in the
first column for your readers who are using rn. Some people
think that spoiler warnings are not necessary. We don't
understand why, and do not want to discuss it. Use your best
judgment.

Some people say that since not all news readers honor the ctl-L,
you should insert twenty or so blank lines as well. My personal
opinion is that I hate having to page through those blank lines
because some people's newsreaders are antiquated, but it's up to
you.

Please keep in mind two points:

Always remember that there is a live human being at
the other end of the wires. In other words, please write
your replies with the same courtesy you would use in
talking to someone face-to-face.

Try to recognize humor and irony in postings. Tone of
voice does not carry in ASCII print, and postings are
often snapped off quickly, so that humorous intent may not
be obvious. More destructive and vicious arguments have
been caused by this one fact of net existence than any
other. It will help if satiric/ironic/humorous comments
are marked with the "smiley face," :-)

1. Story identification requests

"Does anyone know this story?"

It used to be said that you should ask that all responses be e-mailed
back to you, then post the correct answer to the net. These days, no
one does that, and people seem to enjoy the discussion that often
follows. Nevertheless, at least check if someone else has responded
before you post a bare-bones reply.

And do put a useful subject line on your posting. For example,
"Subject: ID req: telepathic dog story" is more likely to get people
who know the answer to respond than "Subject: story request". These
days "YASID" is often used as a keyword ("Yet Another Story ID"), as
in "YASID: Telepathic Dog".

Five of the most common requested stories are:

There are some time travellers to the age of dinosaurs. They have
to stay on a special floating path to avoid changing the future.
However, one steps off the path. When they return to the future,
things are subtly changed. The guy who steps off the path then looks
at his shoe and finds a dead butterfly. == A SOUND OF THUNDER by Ray
Bradbury

This has been anthologized many, many times. Some recent publications
in which the story may be found include Bradbury's collection CLASSIC
STORIES VOLUME 1 (Bantam 1990, 1995) and THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN
AND OTHER STORIES (Avon 1997). It can also be found in Asimov &
Greenberg's anthology THE GREAT SF STORIES: 14 (DAW 1986), which is
often available in the sf section of used book stores.

An expedition to a dead star discovers that the supernova had
destroyed an entire civilization. When they compute the exact time
the star exploded, they find that it was seen on earth at the right
time to be the Star of Bethlehem. == THE STAR by Arthur Clarke

A special kind of glass has been invented where light takes years
to pass through it. Panes of this glass are hung in scenic areas and
then sold to be used as picture windows. == LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS
by Bob Shaw:

"Light of Other Days" is the title of the original short
story, first published in ASF 8/66, and frequently
anthologised.

OTHER DAYS, OTHER EYES is the title of the "fix-up" (novel),
which incorporates "Light of Other Days" and three of the other
slow glass stories: "Burden of Proof" (ASF 5/67), "A Dome of
Many-Coloured Glass" (FAN 4/72) and the eponymous novella
(AMZ 5/72).

The protagonist of this novel lives through a "time loop" wherein
he would die, return to his youth (only a little later each time),
live a new life each time, but always die and re-commence a cycle.
In the course of one life he encountered a woman who experiences the
same phenomenon. == REPLAY by Ken Grimwood

In C.S. Lewis' THE GREAT DIVORCE (1945) he writes in the
introduction: "Firstly, I must acknowledge my debt to a writer whose
name I have forgotten and whom I read several years ago in a highly
coloured American magazine of what they call "Scientifiction." The
unbendable and unbreakable quality of my heavenly matter was
suggested to me by him, though he used the fancy for a different
and most ingenious purpose. His hero travelled into the past: and
there, very properly, found raindrops that would pierce him like
bullets and sandwiches that no strength could bite-because, of
course, nothing in the past can be altered." Fred Galvin reports
that this is most likely Charles F. Hall's "The Man Who Lived
Backwards", Tales of Wonder [British], Summer, 1938. The review
on p. 217 of Paul J. Nahin, Time Machines says, "The tale tells of a
young physics teacher who is 'twisted into a reversed Time Stream'
by an electrical discharge. As he lives backward in time, he
observes everybody about him appearing to run in reverse, but even
more puzzling is that they have developed a 'dreadful, granite-like
hardness.' We soon learn why:

'For a while he could not understand the impenetrable hardness
of external objects which he had experienced; it seemed
they ought rather to be of intangible transience, much as a
dream, since he was re-viewing the Past. But a moment's
thought gave him the logical answer. The Past is definite,
shaped, unalterable, as nothing else in Creation is. Therefore,
to argue that he could move or alter any object here [the
past] was to argue that he could change the whole history of
the world or cosmos. Everything he saw about him had happened,
and could not be changed in any way. On the other hand he was
fluid, movable, alterable, since _his_ future still lay before
him, even if it had been reversed; he was the intruder, the
anomaly. In any clash between himself and the Past, the Past
would prove irresistible every time.'"

A similar story, though later than Lewis's book, is Fritz Leiber's
"Try and Change the Past."

2. Spoilers

In case you missed it above:
Many people feel that much of the enjoyment of a book is ruined if they
know certain things about it, especially when those things are surprise
endings or mysteries. On the other hand, they also want to know
whether or not a book is worth reading, or they may be following a
particular thread of conversation where such information may be
revealed. The solution to this is to put the words SPOILER in your
header, or in the text of your posting. You can also put a ctl-L
character in the first column for your readers who are using rn.
Some people think that spoiler warnings are not necessary. We don't
understand why, and do not want to discuss it. Use your best
judgment.

3. "What books or stories are about X?"

SciFan has a lot of themed bibliographies at http://www.scifan.com/themes/.
There are also several other lists published of works in specific sub-genres:

-----
A. Cyberpunk

Laura Burchard defined cyberpunk as "a subgenre of SF which
(usually) combines high technology ("cyber") with an alienated, often
criminal, subculture ("punk"). Some people consider cyberpunk to be a
Literary Movement; others consider it a marketing gimmick. Arguing
about which it is is pointless and not encouraged in this newsgroup."
There is a news group called alt.cyberpunk which is the best place to
discuss cyberpunk.

The latest bibliography can probably best be found through Google.

-----
B. Steampunk

Steampunk in analogous to cyberpunk, and refers to SF stories set in
the 19th Century and involving technology of that era.

"Uchronia," a large and searchable bibliography of alternate history
stories is maintained by Robert Schmunk and is
available on the Web at
http://www.uchronia.net.

CAVEAT: Flat text copies of the bibliography may be found at various
science fiction archives around the net. However, they are archived
Usenet postings and none will be dated more recently than March 1997.

As with requests for plots, titles, or authors, ask that all replies be
e-mailed to you and that you will summarize (set the Followup-to to
"poster" to encourage e-mail response). Note that a summary is not
just concatenating all the replies together and posting the resulting
file. Take the time to strip headers, combine duplicate information,
and write a short summary.

4. "What books have been written by author X?" "What books are in
series Y?"

If nobody seems to be discussing what you want to talk about, post a
(polite) message opening the discussion. Don't just say, "Does anyone
want to talk about X" or "I really like X" however; try to have
something interesting to say about the topic to get discussion going.

Don't be angry or upset if no one responds. It may be that X is just a
personal taste of your own, or quite obscure. Or it may be that X was
discussed to death a few weeks ago, just before you came into the
group. (If this is the case, you'll probably know, though, because
some rude fool will probably flame you for "Bringing that up
*AGAIN*!!!" Ignore them.)

7. What is science fiction?

This subject has been hashed out endlessly, and if you really want to
see all the definitions proposed (or at least a very substantial
subset), they have been collected by Neyir Cenk Gokce
at
http://web.archive.org/web/20071011124733/http://www.panix.com/~gokce/sf_defn.html. The only definition
that seems to work is Damon Knight's: "Science Fiction is what we
point at when we say it." Unless you have something really new and
amazing, don't start this topic. [Provided by Evelyn Leeper and Taki
Kogoma.]

[If you think you have something new and amazing, try applying it
to the following cases:

alternate history novels

novels set on another planet with no contact with Earth and
no unknown technology (e.g., HELLO SUMMER, GOODBYE
by Michael Coney, and possibly AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND by Iain M. Banks)
SWORDSPOINT by Ellen Kushner]

As for the origin of the term itself, according to Sam Moskowitz in
EXPLORERS OF THE INFINITE: SHAPERS OF SCIENCE FICTION (page 240):
"The first issue of SCIENCE WONDER STORIES was dated June
1929. ... Most important, [Hugo Gernsback] coined, in his editorial
in the first SCIENCE WONDER STORIES, the term 'science fiction,' which
was to become the permanent name of the genre, completely eclipsing
'scientifiction.'"

-----
7a. Are techno-thrillers science fiction?

I would say yes, but undoubtedly this will also be hashed out at great
length and with great frequency.

8. What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?

See question #7.

This also has been done to death. Virtually every answer you give will
fail to clearly indicate which category a large number of books belong
to. Familiar books mentioned that test the boundary conditions include
Anne McCaffrey's "Dragon" series, Piers Anthony's "Apprentice Adept"
series, STAR WARS, and anything that uses FTL. The most concise
definition I've heard was given by John Clute in a radio broadcast 22
March 1997: " "Science fiction: the model is that it is a kind of story
which argues from this world a kind of possible outcome. It's possibly
an improbable outcome, but it is arguable. Fantasy essentially, as I
have been seeing it, is a series of stories, self-coherent stories (a
term we use, kind of a bad neologism to describe stories which as [it]
were understand themselves as stories; they're told stories), that are
set in worlds that are technically impossible, that we can't argue. We
may believe in them, but we can't argue them."

A more complete listing of the borderline cases includes:

Poul Anderson's "Operation" stories, in OPERATION CHAOS

Piers Anthony's "Apprentice Adept" series

James Blaylock's "Elfin Ship"

Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Darkover" series

David Brin's PRACTICE EFFECT

Rick Cook's "Wizard's Bane" series

L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt"s "Incomplete Enchanter" series

Charles de Lint's SVAHA

C. S. Friedman's "Coldfire" series

Lyndon Hardy's "Master of the Five Magics" series

Robert A. Heinlein's MAGIC, INC.

Rosemary Kirstein's STEERSWOMAN and THE OUTSKIRTER'S SECRET

Julian May's "Pliocene Exile" series

Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" series

Walter M. Miller's CANTICLE FOR LEIBOVITZ

James Morrow's THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS

Kristine Kathryn Rusch's ALIEN INFLUENCES

Robert Silverberg's "Majipoor" series

Christopher Stasheff's "Warlock" series

Michael Swanwick's IRON DRAGON'S DAUGHTER

Sheri Tepper's "The World of the True Game" books

Lawrence Watt-Evans's "Three Worlds" series

Lawrence Watt-Evans's CYBORG AND THE SORCERERS and THE WIZARD AND THE WAR MACHINE

(Often someone suggests that fantasy and science fiction can be easily
divided and this list is brought up, the original poster responds by
saying they haven't read any of these so they can't say which category
they go in. This is not likely to convince people that such a division
is possible. :-) )

Of course, you can also check out Jerry Oltion's essay on this in the
March 1997 issue of THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION.

Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society
Article II -- Hugo Awards
Section 2.2: Categories.
2.2.1: Best Novel. A science fiction OR FANTASY story of forty thousand
(40,000) words or more appearing for the first time during the previous
calendar year. ... [caps mine]

9. The SF-LOVERS Digest

The SF-LOVERS Digest is a service for those who cannot read the
rec.arts.sf newsgroups directly. It is a compilation of the articles
posted to sf.misc, sf.announce, sf.fandom, sf.movies, sf.tv,
sf.written and sf.reviews which is sent out periodically via e-mail.
However, it is currently suspended.

10. Star Trek/Babylon-5/Dr. Who

There are hierarchies of newsgroups for these topics. Articles about
them, including books about them, should be posted there.

rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5

rec.arts.startrek.*

rec.arts.drwho

Do not post flames about people violating this guideline. Use e-mail
to request they follow it. It's likely that this person is reading
rec.arts.sf.written via the SF-LOVERS Digest and has no access to
netnews or rec.arts.startrek. If so, that person will not see your
flame because discussions of what's appropriate in the newsgroup are
not included in the SF-LOVERS digest.

Note: It usually takes about one year from the time a manuscript is
turned in until the book actually hits the stores.

-----
A. What's this I hear about two different editions of THE STATE OF THE
ART by Iain M. Banks?

"The State of the Art" is a longish novella, set in Iain M. Banks'
popular 'Culture' universe. It was first published in a slim volume
entitled "The State of the Art," in 1989 by Mark V. Ziesing, an
American small press, ISBN 0-929480-06-6. In 1991, Orbit (a UK
publisher) brought out a volume also entitled "The State of the Art."
This contains the aforementioned novella, plus seven short stories, one
of which ("A Gift from the Culture") is also set in the "Culture"
universe. ISBN 0-356-19669-0. It has had both hardback and paperback
editions in the UK but has not (AFAIK) been published in the US.
[Provided by Mike Scott.]

Brin currently has no Uplift books scheduled. The last ones
published were the Sooners trilogy, BRIGHTNESS REEF, INFINITY'S
SHORE, and HEAVEN'S REACH.

Also, in David Brin's novel, SUNDIVER, he make frequent mention of a
previous episode involving Jacob Demwa saving the Vanilla Needle and
his first wife falling to her death in the process. The details are
sufficient that many suspect that this story was actually written. As
far as anyone knows, if it has been written, it has not been
published.

-----
D. The next books from Steven Brust

The last Dragaera book was a Vlad book titled DZUR. The next is
JHEGAALA, first draft completed. [01/08]

-----
E. The next book in Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series and the last
book in his Homecoming series

The sixth book, called THE CRYSTAL CITY, was published
in November 2003 by Tor. There will be one more book after this, according
to Card. The final novel is rumored to be titled ALVIN MAKER, but
Card often changes titles up to the last minute. Card's website does
not, however, list this as a work in progress.

Also, EARTHFALL and EARTHBORN (books four and five in the Homecoming
series) are out. This completes that series.

-----
F. The next book in Glen Cook's Black Company series

All of the four new Black Company books (collectively known as
"Glittering Stone") are out: BLEAK SEASONS was published in 1996, SHE
IS THE DARKNESS was published in September 1997, WATER SLEEPS was
published in March 1999, and SOLDIERS LIVE was published in June 2000,
all from Tor. Paperback publication was a year after hardback.

Barring a change of plan by Cook, the Black Company series is
now complete.

-----
G. The next book in P. C. Hodgell's God Stalk series

Meisha Merlin has published DARK OF THE GODS (containing GOD STALK,
DARK OF THE MOON, and "Bones"), SEEKER'S MASK, as well as her short
story collection, BLOOD AND IVORY: A TAPESTRY.

TO RIDE A RATHORN covers the first half of Jame's year at Tentir,
and was published Aug 2006

As of May 2007, Meisha Merlin Publications will cease operation.

-----
H. Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana ending

"How exactly is the meeting with the riselka at the end of Guy Gavriel
Kay's TIGANA supposed to apply to the three characters who meet her and
is there anything in the book which offers suggestions or is it just
supposed to leave readers guessing?"

The collective opinion of rec.arts.sf.written is that it is meant to
leave the book deliberately open-ended, there being no indications in
the book itself, beyond the obvious balance of probabilities.

From an interview with Kay by Andrew Adams:

Q: The end of Tigana with three men seeing a riselka suggests
to some a hook for a sequel, to others merely an indication
that "life goes on...". Do you have any plans to return to
the Palm?

GGK: The second theory is entirely correct. To put it another way,
I wanted the sense that this whole very long story is NOT the
whole story of these peoples' lives. No sequel was planned or
hinted at. I think most thoughtful readers picked up on the
point, but there have been an awful lot who have been waiting
for the next volume. This depresses me, actually.

And "Riselka" is indeed spelt "riselka," despite many creative attempts
towards alternative spellings. It presumably comes from the
Slavonic "rusalka" -- a female water spirit.

[Provided by Mike Arnatov.]

-----
I. The next book in S. M. Stirling's Draka series

DRAKON is now out from Baen. A prequel to the whole series, LAUGHTER
OF THE GUNS, is currently in limbo, as well as UNTO US A CHILD, a
sequel to DRAKON. An anthology of Draka stories by other authors,
DRAKAS!, was published by Baen in November 2000.
-----
J. The sequel to David R. Palmer's THRESHOLD

The blurb on the book to the contrary notwithstanding, it doesn't
exist.

[Provided by "Ahasuerus the Wandering Jew"]

-----
K. George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire"

"A Song of Ice and Fire" currently consists of four novels and a two
novellas. The novels carry the story; in both publication and
chronological order they are:

A GAME OF THRONES
A CLASH OF KINGS
A STORM OF SWORDS
A FEAST FOR CROWS

The fifth book will be titled A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, and will not
appear until at least 2008. Originally there were to be a total of
six books, but that was before A FEAST FOR CROWS was inserted into
the timeline. According to
, this expands the
series to seven books; the last two will be entitled THE WINDS OF
WINTER and A DREAM OF SPRING. [01/08]

In addition, there are two shorter works which are part of the same
setting. "Blood of the Dragon" was originally published in magazine
form and is now available in the collection QUARTET. It is
essentially Danyrys story from A GAME OF THRONES. "The Hedge Knight"
was originally published in LEGENDS, edited by Robert Silberberg. It
is placed well before A GAME OF THRONES and has no character overlap.

-----
L. The next book in Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden Universe

The Skolian books can for the most part be read in any order. However,
a chronological timeline does exist. The list below gives the books
in that order, as recommended by the author. All books are available
from Tor.

The series can be thought of as a large jig-saw puzzle that makes an
overall, overarching picture, but where each piece of the puzzle is a
picture complete within itself. Some of the pieces are completely
independent pictures; others can be seen more clearly in the context
of the surrounding pieces.

PRIMARY INVERSION (1995) Stand alone
SKYFALL (2003) Stand alone
THE RADIANT SEAS (1999) Sequel to PRIMARY INVERSION
THE LAST HAWK (1998) Stand alone
THE QUANTUM ROSE (2000) Stand alone
ASCENDANT SUN (2001) Sequel to RADIANT SEAS and THE LAST HAWK
SPHERICAL HARMONIC (2002) Sequel to THE RADIANT SEAS and ASCENDANT SUN
THE MOON'S SHADOW (2003) It involves the events of the earlier books.
TRIAD (2004) This will appear probably at the end of 2004. It is a
big epic and may be divided into two books. Chronologically, it come
in the period of time between SKYFALL and PRIMARY INVERSION. Stand
alone.
CATCH THE LIGHTNING (1996). Stand alone

Other Skolian Empire stories:
"Stained Glass Heart" in the anthology IRRESISTIBLE FORCES
(February, 2004).
"Walk in Silence" in the April 2003 Analog.
"Ave de Paso" in the anthology REDSHIFT, edited by Al Sarrantino.
"A Roll of the Dice" in the July/August 2000 Analog.
"Aurora in Four Voices" in the December 1998 Analog.
"Soul of Light" in the anthologies SEXTOPIA and also EROTIC FANTASTIC,
THE BEST OF CIRCLET PRESS 10992-2002, edited by Cecelia Tan.
"Light and Shadow" in Analog (1994).

THE CASSINI DIVISION, THE STONE CANAL, THE SKY ROAD, and THE STAR
FRACTION (collectively called "The Fall Revolution"), and COSMONAUT
KEEP, DARK LIGHT, and ENGINE CITY (collectively called "Engines of
Light") are all available in both the UK and the US.

The first series of books were first published in the UK in the
following order: THE STAR FRACTION, THE STONE CANAL, THE CASSINI
DIVISION, THE SKY ROAD.

See 19D for reading order for these books.

NEWTON'S WAKE, LEARNING THE WORLD (previously called THE NEW
INTELLIGENCE) and THE EXECUTION CHANNEL are completely independent of
either series. His next book is THE NIGHT SESSIONS. [01/08]

-----
O. The fourth book of Alexei Panshin's Anthony Villers series

Three books were published in the Anthony Villers series: STAR WELL,
THE THURB REVOLUTION, and MASQUE WORLD. A fourth book was promised at
the end of the third book and was to be titled, THE UNIVERSAL
PANTOGRAPH. It was never published.

"The long holdup has apparently been reasonable advances to live on
while writing them, not an unreasonable requirement in a professional
writer. The unreasonable part is on the part of American or even
world publishing that has never seen fit to come to terms in the
matter; what's wrong with these people, anyway?"
-----
P. The next Merlin book from Nikolai Tolstoy

Though there was promised a sequel to Tolstoy's book, Tolstoy lost a
libel case (long story having to do with what some British officers did
and didn't do in 1945) a few years ago and is legally bankrupt, and
whatever money he might be able to make writing books would go to the
folks who won the case. It is unlikely, therefore, that he will spend
the effort.

[Provided by "Ahasuerus the Wandering Jew".]

-----
Q. [deleted]

-----
R. The third book in Paul Edwin Zimmer's The Dark Border series

"There is no third book. Despite the somewhat cliffhanger ending, it
is, and has always been intended to be, a duology."

A GATHERING OF HEROES is set in the same world, but does not form a
trilogy with the first two. There is also INGULF THE MAD, published by
Ace in 1989.

-----
S. The third book in Meredith Pierce's Darkangel trilogy

This was in fact published, as THE PEARL OF THE SOUL OF THE WORLD
by Joy Street Books, a division of Little, Brown & Co.

Harcourt Brace/Magic Carpet re-published all three books as mass market
paperbacks: THE DARKANGEL and A GATHERING OF GARGOYLES in 1998 and THE
PEARL OF THE SOUL OF THE WORLD in April or May 1999. There was also
an omnibus from "Guild America Books" of the three closer to the date
of the original hardcover publications.

-----
T. The fifth book in the Chtorr series

This is currently called A METHOD FOR MADNESS. While Gerrold has some
of this written, other projects are occupying much of his time, and no
release date has been set."

[Provided by Brendon Towle.]

-----
U. The next book in Vernor Vinge's Slow Zone series and the annotated
FIRE UPON THE DEEP

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY was published in February 1999 by Tor/
St. Martin's Press.

There are no copies of the CD-ROM available except on the resale
market. [01/07]

13. Clarke's Laws

Clarke's Law, later Clarke's First Law, can be found in the essay
"Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination", in the collection
"Profiles of the Future", 1962, revised 1973, Harper & Row, paperback
by Popular Library, ISBN 0-445-04061-0. It reads:

[1] When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that
something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he
states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Note that the adverbs in the two sentences are different. Clarke
continues:

Perhaps the adjective "elderly" requires definition. In
physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty;
in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed
to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions;
but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists
of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and
should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!

Isaac Asimov added a further comment with Asimov's Corollary to Clarke's
Law, which he expounded in an essay logically titled "Asimov's Corollary".
This appeared in the February 1977 issue of F&SF, and can be found in the
collection "Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright", 1978, Doubleday; no ISBN on
my copy. Asimov's Corollary reads:

[1AC] When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is
denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports
that idea with great fervor and emotion -- the distinguished
but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right.

So much for Clarke's First Law. A few pages later on, in the final
paragraph of the same essay, Clarke writes:

[2] But the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is
to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

To this he attaches a footnote:

The French edition of [presumably, the first edition of] this
book rather surprised me by calling this Clarke's Second Law.
(See page [number] for the First, which is now rather well-
known.) I accept the label, and have also formulated a Third:

As three laws were good enough for Newton, I have modestly
decided to stop there.

[Provided by Mark Brader.]

14. SF themes in music

A list of songs which have science fictional themes is maintained by
Rich Kulawiec. This list is posted to news.answers periodically. If
you can not find it there, e-mail Rich at rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu.
Alternate e-mail addresses for Rich are rsk@ecn.purdue.edu or
pur-ee!rsk. [Provide3d by Rich Kulawiec [rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu].]

Also worthy of mention are Frank Belknap Long, who died in 1994 at the
age of 90; E. Hoffman Price, who also died in 1988, also at the age
of 90, and had published novels at 81, 82, 84, 85, 88, and 89; and
Naomi Mitchison, who died in 1999 at the age of 101 (1 November 1897 -
11 January 1999).

Gary Couzens suggests Geoffrey Dearmer (21 March 1893-18 August 1996),
best known as a WWI poet, as the oldest SF author ever.

Note: Do not post that X is dead unless you have heard this from a
reputable source, such as a daily newspaper, or a reputable fan or
author. Postings in other groups on the Net, and statements from
friends such as, "Isn't X dead?" are not reputable sources!

16. Authors by Ethnicity

(These are listings for the ethnicities anyone has asked
about/collected that I know of. See also question #3G/H/I for Jewish,
Mormon, and Christian SF.)

-----
A. Black SF authors

The question used to be "Are there any black SF authors?" Now it's
more like, "What black SF authors are there?"

The four most prominent are probably Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler,
Steven Barnes, and Nalo Hopkinson.

Toni Morrison writes what is certainly fantasy, though she is not often
thought of as an SF ("speculative fiction") writer. Walter Mosley is
primarily known for mysteries, but he has written one SF novel, BLUE
LIGHT, and a collection of loosely related near-future science fiction
stories, FUTUREWORLD.

Butler and Hamilton have both won MacArthur Grants and are the only two
SF writers to have done so (so far).

Dennis Lien notes: "The FAQ list refers to
'Black SF Authors' as opposed to specifically 'African-American,' so it
may be worth noting that Charles Saunders is, more strictly,
Afro-Canadian (US-born but for a long time now a Canadian citizen, I
believe)." Nalo Hopkinson is also Afro-Canadian or Afro-Caribbean.

Some other Black (but not African-American) SF authors: West Indian
authors Julian Jay Savarin (the Lemmus time trilogy) and Edgar
Mittelholzer (MY BONES AND MY FLUTE), and above all the
recently-deceased Yoruba writer Amos Tutuola (THE PALM-WINE DRINKARD
AND HIS DEAD PALM-WINE TAPSTER IN THE DEADS' TOWN; MY LIFE IN THE BUSH
OF GHOSTS; and others). It has been noted that both Alexander Pushkin
and Alexander Dumas pere were black (by current standards) and wrote
fantasy.

(There is a bibliography of the work of "people of color in the field
of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical
realism, and fantastical literature of any type)" at
http://www.netgsi.com/~fcowboy/intro.html. Its definition of "people
of color" may not agree with yours.)

-----
B. Asian/Asian-American SF authors

Are there any Asian/Asian-American SF authors?

Well, there are tons of them writing in Japanese (and other languages),
but I'll stick to just the ones available in English; this list also
includes Anglo-Asian authors:

17. Good SF bookstores in town Z and ordering by mail/Web
Evelyn C. Leeper (eleeper@optonline.net) maintains several lists of
bookstores in various North American, European, African, and Asian
cities at http://www.leepers.us/evelyn/bookshops/bookshop.htm. These
lists are *not* SF specific, but extensive commentary makes it pretty
easy to sort those stores out from the rest. Stores that are known
to ship worldwide by mail are so noted.
There are also always amazon.com, borders.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
http://www.bookshop.co.uk, http://www.amazon.co.uk,
http://www.amazon.de, http://www.indigo.ca, and
http://www.bookworm.com.au are possibilities for British, German,
Canadian, and Australian books.
For used books, try:
http://www.bookfinder.com/
http://www.abebooks.com/
http://www.alibris.com/
http://www.powells.com/
http://www.addall.com/
Powells is both new and used. It also turns up in several of the
multi-dealer searches listed above.
And in answer to a specific frequently asked question: There is no SF
specialty bookstore in New York City.

-----
17A. Are chain bookstores (particularly superstores) evil?
Yes, if you live in an area which had several large, well-stocked
independent bookstores that went out of business when a chain opened a
megastore there.
No, if you live in an area that had no bookstores (or only a mall
bookstore) before the chain opened a megastore there.
Which is a fancy way of saying your mileage may vary, and this topic
is unlikely to be resolved by discussion here.

18. What is Johnny Rico's ethnic group in STARSHIP TROOPERS?

From page 205 of the 1968 Berkeley edition (end of Chapter XIII):

I said, "There ought to be one named _Magsaysay_."

Bennie said, "What?"

"Ramon Magsaysay," I explained. "Great man, great soldier --
probably be chief of psychological warfare if he was alive today.
"Didn't you study any history?"

"Well," admitted Bennie, "I learned that Simo'n Bolivar built the
Pyramids, licked the Armada, and made the first trip to the Moon."

"You left out marrying Cleopatra," I said.

"Oh, that. Yup. Well, I guess every country has its own version
of history."

"I'm sure of it." I added something to myself and Bennie said,
"What did you say?"

"Sorry, Bernardo. Just an old saying in my own language. I suppose
you could translate it, more or less, as `Home is where the heart
is.'"

"But what language was it?"

"Tagalog. My native language."

"Don't they talk Standard English where you come from?"

"Oh, certainly. For business and school and so forth. We just
talk the old speech around home a little. Traditions, you know."

"Yeah, I know. My folks chatter in Espan~ol the same way. But
where do you--" The speaker started playing "Meadowland"; Bennie
broke into a grin. "Got a date with a ship! Watch yourself,
fellow! See you."

There is no room at all left for misinterpretation. Johnny Rico is a
Filipino; Tagalog is a Philippine language, Ramon Magsaysay was a hero
of the Philippine resistance, and many Filipinos have Spanish names.

[Provided by Eric Raymond.]

19. In what order should I read:
-----
A. Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan" series?

Opinion seems to be divided to reading them in order of the internal
chronology (to avoid spoilers) or in order of publication. In either
case, MIRROR DANCE, MEMORY, and KOMARR should be read last or the
reader will likely miss some important connections. And I recommend
reading SHARDS OF HONOR first in either case. The more recent editions
of the Baen paperbacks have an internal chronology in the back of each
book.

By order of publication, the books in the series are SHARDS OF HONOR
(1986), THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE (1986), ETHAN OF ATHOS (1986), FALLING
FREE (1988), BORDERS OF INFINITY (1989), BROTHERS IN ARMS (1989), THE
VOR GAME (1990), BARRAYAR (1991), MIRROR DANCE (1994), CETAGANDA
(1996), MEMORY (1996), KOMARR (1998), A CIVIL CAMPAIGN (1999), and
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY. FALLING FREE and ETHAN OF ATHOS are basically
independent of the other storylines. Bujold's other books, THE
SPIRIT RING, THE CURSE OF CHALION, and PALADIN OF SOULS (Oct 2003) are
fantasies not set in the same universe.

By internal chronology (my recommendation), the order is FALLING FREE
(peripheral), SHARDS OF HONOR, BARRAYAR, THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE, the
short story "The Mountains of Mourning" in BORDERS OF INFINITY, THE VOR
GAME, CETAGANDA, ETHAN OF ATHOS (peripheral), the short story
"Labyrinth" in BORDERS Of INFINITY, the short story "Borders of
Infinity" in BORDERS OF INFINITY, BROTHERS IN ARMS, MIRROR DANCE,
MEMORY, KOMARR, ... A CIVIL CAMPAIGN, [and DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY].

[People have sent many variations to this, based on which books they
think are stronger or weaker. I will not include all the arguments
here.]

Her fantasy novels, SPIRIT RING, CURSE OF CHALION, and PALADIN OF SOULS
are not related to the "Vorkosigan" books. The latter two are related
to each other

The Vlad Taltos novels can be read in published order or in
chronological order. Mileage varies on which is preferable.

The published order is:

JHEREG (a Vlad Taltos novel)

YENDI (a Vlad Taltos novel)

BROKEDOWN PALACE (An independant Dragaera novel)

TECKLA (a Vlad Taltos novel)

TALTOS (a Vlad Taltos novel)

PHOENIX (a Vlad Taltos novel)

AYTHRA (a Vlad Taltos novel)

ORCA (a Vlad Taltos novel)

THE PHOENIX GUARDS (A Khaavren novel)

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER (A Khaavren novel)

DRAGON (a Vlad Taltos novel)

ISSOLA (a Vlad Taltos novel)

PATHS OF THE DEAD (A Khaavren novel)

THE LORD OF CASTLE BLACK (A Khaavren novel)

SETHRA LAVODE (A Khaavren novel)

DZUR (a Vlad Taltos novel)

The chronological order is:

TALTOS

YENDI

DRAGON (but see below)

JHEREG

TECKLA

PHOENIX

ATHYRA

ORCA

ISSOLA

DZUR

According to some, TALTOS, YENDI, DRAGON, and JHEREG are more
stand-alone than the others. However, DRAGON comes both before and
after YENDI in internal chronology (mostly before) and contains
spoilers for YENDI. BROKEDOWN PALACE contains almost no spoilers for
anything.

The Khaavren novels are:

THE PHOENIX GUARDS

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER

and take place before the Vlad books. (The forthcoming third (which
is a trilogy), THE VISCOUNT OF ADRILANKHA, will bring the chronology
up to Vlad's time.)

BROKEDOWN PALACE is effectively a stand-alone, though Brust has said
definitively that BROKEDOWN PALACE is a Dragaera novel; internal clues
place it at the year of Vlad's birth. The resulting chronological
order is:

THE PHOENIX GUARDS (A Khaavren novel)

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER (A Khaavren novel)

PATHS OF THE DEAD (A Khaavren novel)

THE LORD OF CASTLE BLACK (A Khaavren novel)

SETHRA LAVODE (A Khaavren novel)

BROKEDOWN PALACE (An independant Dragaera novel)

Some have taken to called the Khaavren novels, "Paarfi's
Romances", since Khaavren isn't as central a character in the
"Viscount" books.

[Originally provided by Kate Nepveu, with additions and changes by
various.] [01/07]

-----
C. Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series?

There are two answers here, a short one, and a longer one which also
includes opinions on the quality of the books.

From J. Hunter Johnson :

As with other series, the Asimov books can be read in published order
or in chronological order. First-time readers should probably read
the books in published order to avoid some of the spoilers present.

The chronological order of the novels by Asimov or approved by his
estate are:

The Caves of Steel (1954)

The Naked Sun (1957)

The Robots of Dawn (1983)

Robots and Empire (1985)

Caliban (1993)

Inferno (1994)

Utopia (1996)

The Stars, Like Dust (1951)

The Currents of Space (1952)

Pebble in the Sky (1950)

Prelude to Foundation (1988)

Forward the Foundation (1993)

Foundation's Fear (1997, takes place after the first chapter of
Forward the Foundation)

Foundation and Chaos (1998)

Foundation's Triumph (1999, takes place after the first chapter of
Foundation)

From Richard Harter [note this includes critical comments as well as
a description of the series]:

In his youth Isaac Asimov constructed three distinct major fictional
universes, each thematically separate, the far future Foundation
trilogy, the near future series of short stories about positronic
robots, and an intermediate series about the conflict between Earthers
and Spacers, the latter being potentially in the same universe as his
earlier robot novels.

Much later, after a successful career as an author of non-fiction
expository works on a wide variety of subjects, he wrote a sequel to
the Foundation trilogy, "Foundation's Edge". Not content with this he
embarked on a series of novels to tie his various universes together.
Since his death the composite universe has been extended by authorized
novels by David Brin and Greg Bear.

The time line for Isaac Asimov's composite universe:
(The later works are marked with stars.)

EARLY (IN THE NEAR FUTURE)
The End of Eternity [1]
I, Robot
The Rest of the Robots
EARTH AND THE SPACERS
The Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
* Robots of Dawn
* Robots and Empire
EXPANSION
The Stars Like Dust [2]
TRANTOR, PRE-UNIFICATION
The Currents of Space
Pebble In The Sky
FOUNDATION
* Prelude to Foundation
* Forward the Foundation
Foundation
Foundation & Empire
Second Foundation
* Foundation's Edge
* Foundation & Earth

The theme of the original Foundation trilogy (a series of short stories
and novellas packaged in three volumes)is the unfolding of a grand
planned history, the Seldon plan, the threat of the plan being
destroyed, and the plan being saved. The trilogy has its faults. Asimov
was quite young at the time: His appreciation of the variety of human
behaviour was limited and many of the details of his universe were
quite naive in conception. The quality of his prose is subject to
debate. The stories were somewhat dryly intellectual in conception.
None-the-less there is a grandness of conception and intriguing
puzzles. They also have one of his few great characters, the Mule. The
real hero, however, of the trilogy is the Seldon plan itself. The
Foundation stories are a triumph of science fiction as the literature
of the idea as hero.

In his early years he wrote two excellent novels, THE CAVES OF STEEL
and THE NAKED SUN, both sparse. They carried the robots of I, ROBOT
into a future of spacers vs Earth, the spacers having a mixed
human/robot culture spread across many worlds and Earth a city based
culture with a fear of robots. Earth is technologically backwards and
its residents are psychologically restricted to their caves of steel.
(The spacers vs Earth theme is an elaboration of an earlier novella,
Mother Earth.) Both are detective stories in an SF setting. Both rely
on two strong characters, the human detective, Lije Bailey and the
human appearing robot, Daneel. A thesis of the novels is that the
future of humanity lies in a C/Fe culture, i.e., in the equal
partnership of human and robot.

FOUNDATION'S EDGE was written many years later. His early novels was
sparse; FE is the first of a series of bloated novels. In my opinion it
is the first step in his disowning the Foundation trilogy. The entire
basis of the character of the Mule is destroyed. The Seldon plan is
disowned as being ultimately worthless and a cheap-jack psionic
mysticism is offered in its place.

Having returned to the worlds of his youth, Asimov determined to unite
his two grand universes. There are no robots in the Foundation universe
so it was necessary to eliminate them. He did this in two more bloated
novels, THE ROBOTS OF DAWN and EMPIRE AND ROBOTS. In these he disowns
the thesis of the C/Fe culture. The spacers are discounted as not being
viable; Daneel, on the other hand, is promoted into a mind-controlling
demi-god. He followed these two with a third bloated novel, FOUNDATION
and EARTH, a sequel to FOUNDATION'S EDGE in which it is ultimately
revealed that Daneel is the master mind behind human history.

This was, for the nonce, the capstone of his of his campaign to disown
the work of his youth by rewriting the juice out of it. The value of
the Seldon plan had been discounted; the Mule had been emasculated;
Daneel had been destroyed by deification; and the C/Fe thesis had been
discarded. He wasn't done.

PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION and the sequel FORWARD THE FOUNDATION are
set on Trantor; nominally they are about how Hari Seldon brings
about the Seldon plan. Both are farragos of implausible
melodrama. Concealed within them however is the final discounting - the
revelation that the Seldon plan was never feasible in the first place.
[3] The Bear, Brin, et al novels are a continuation of the melodrama.
In the words of bard, they are full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing.

[1] THE END OF ETERNITY is not part of the series but it implicitly
references it.

[2] THE STARS LIKE DUST is an early work; it isn't quite consistent
with his later works but is consistent with the earlier novels. It
features a radioactive Earth whose radioactivity is due to a nuclear
war.

[3] In SECOND FOUNDATION the original plan was somewhat makeshift, a
"best we can do" at the time job. The one sour note is the idea
advanced in SECOND FOUNDATION that the Second Foundation was to be the
ruling class.

There is a fundamental problem with the psychohistory concept; the
psychohistorians become the rulers and they, too, are human. Michael
Flynn makes it all clear in IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND. Asimov didn't
come to terms with the issue in the Foundation trilogy; later on, in
FOUNDATION'S EDGE he confronted it but his solution was icky.

And finally (well, nothing is final here!), Donald Kingsbury has
written an unauthorized Foundation novel, PSYCHOHISTORICAL CRISIS, of
which David Langford says, "[It] follows on from the
original trilogy after a long time-gap and takes issue with Asimov's
assumptions about ruling classes and the need for secrecy. Although the
names have almost all been changed -- Seldon is just 'the Founder' and
the Mule becomes 'Cloun-the-Stubborn' -- it's a lot more in the spirit of
the original trio than later Asimov add-ons (which Kingsbury ignores)."
-----
D. Ken MacLeod's Books?

THE CASSINI DIVISION, THE STONE CANAL, THE SKY ROAD, and THE STAR
FRACTION (collectively called "The Fall Revolution") were first
published in the UK in the following order: THE STAR FRACTION,
THE STONE CANAL, THE CASSINI DIVISION, THE SKY ROAD.

By internal chronology, the ordering is loosely:

THE STONE CANAL, set starting in the 1970s, and also in the far future.

THE STAR FRACTION, set in the 2040s in the UK

THE CASSINI DIVISION, set some time after the future part of THE STONE
CANAL

THE SKY ROAD is an alternate future, which Rich Horton describes thusly:
"The earlier parts ... of THE STONE CANAL and all of THE STAR FRACTION
are set in a common past to both THE SKY ROAD and to THE CASSINI
DIVISION, but one of the events in THE STONE CANAL goes a different way
in THE SKY ROAD." Therefore, it is not consistent with THE CASSINI
DIVISION. It is also set in two time periods, 2059 and several
centuries in the future.

According to some, THE STONE CANAL is the best introduction to the
series, as it stands on its own the best and gives some of the
background for relationships that are important in THE CASSINI
DIVISION and THE SKY ROAD. Others say to start with THE CASSINI
DIVISION, which gets going faster, and also stands on it own.
MacLeod discusses the ordering in the introduction to the US paperback
of THE STAR FRACTION.

COSMONAUT KEEP, DARK LIGHT, and ENGINE CITY (collectively called
"Engines of Light") are all available in both the UK and the US. The
order of reading the "Engines of Light" books is the same as the order
of publication: COSMONAUT KEEP, DARK LIGHT, and ENGINE CITY. They are
definitely a trilogy.

-----
E. Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" books?

From Kate Nepveu:

The Discworld novels consist of four sub-series and several
stand-alone books. The sub-series feature the same character(s);
while it is enjoyable to read these in order and see the characters
evolve, it's not strictly necessary. (The lone exception to this
rule is THE LIGHT FANTASTIC, which is a "traditional" sequel.)
They are listed in order below, with the distinguishing
character(s) of their sub-series noted.

(U.K.) publication order and chronological order are effectively
the same for the sub-series; history on the Discworld is a funny
thing--see THIEF OF TIME for more information--so no representations
about order across books is offered. At any rate, you won't
encounter spoilers if you read the books in this order.

* THE TRUTH and GOING POSTAL are set in Ankh-Morpork, which is the
City of the City Watch, so readers will encounter familiar characters,
but the focus is on a new character.

* MONSTROUS REGIMENT centres on new characters in the unfamiliar country
Borogravia, with visiting Ankh-Morpork newshounds (from THE TRUTH) and City
Watch members in minor roles.

Mileage varies on where to start reading for two reasons. First, the
Discworld novels evolve and improve over time, and there can be
disagreement over when the books become "good enough" to recommend to
a first-time reader. Second, people may have strong opinions
regarding a particular sub-series (the Rincewind books are perhaps
the most frequent point of disagreement, as they are notably lighter
than the others). Thus, the best all-purpose guideline is probably
to just pick one from around the middle of this list and try it.
(For whatever it's worth, I have had very good luck with recommending
SMALL GODS to start.)

David Langford adds, "'Ridcully's Wizards'--the Unseen University
faculty as it finally stabilized in MOVING PICTURES--have their own
story strands in MOVING PICTURES, REAPER MAN, LORDS AND LADIES
(admittedly minor), SOUL MUSIC, INTERESTING TIMES (framing only),
HOGFATHER, and THE LAST CONTINENT."

[Note that Pratchett has also written some non-Discworld novels, which
frequently are packaged looking like Discworld novels--Kirby covers,
etc.). STRATA is somewhat proto-Discworld; THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUN is
completely separate.]
-----
F. Iain M. Banks's "Culture" books?

There are generally two recommended reading orders for Banks.
None of the Culture books are directly connected, so in terms of
spoilers it makes little difference, and generally most of the
debate tends to be over which book should be read first.

"A Gift from the Culture" can be read after any book other
than CONSIDER PHLEBAS

[LOOK TO WINDWARD uses as its jumping-off point the 200th(?)
anniversary of some events of the war in CONSIDER PHLEBAS,
but is not a direct sequel.]

This is frequently recommended, at least to the extent of "Read
CONSIDER PHLEBAS first," because there are low-level spoilers for
CONSIDER PHLEBAS in the other books, to the extent that you know more
about the Culture than you otherwise would.

This is the order in which I read the books. I wasn't terribly
impressed by CONSIDER PHLEBAS, and generally recommend the other order
myself.

The other recommended order just reverses the first two, and reverts to
publication order thereafter; this is because PLAYER OF GAMES is, in
the opinions of those who recommend this order, a better book, and it
certainly gives the best general picture of the normal, internal life
in the Culture.

If you start with one of those two you probably will be fine. UoW is
not generally recommended (although some people here will probably
argue with that) because it needs some background. EXCESSION relies
to even a greater extent on knowing about Culture Minds, though there
are some people here who started with that without problems.

As for what the Culture is: well, keep in mind that although there are
no plot spoilers here it will alter the impact of CONSIDER PHLEBAS
advocated by the "read-CONSIDER PHLEBAS-first" faction.

About once a year someone asks about the SFBC and the resulting
discussion inevitably goes like this:

A: I love it. I get hard cover books for about half the bookstore
price. Plus they have these omnibus editions of various series so
you can pick up several books in one volume. The binding may not be
up to regular hardcover standards, but it's still better than
paperback.

B: Yeah, but I keep losing the monthly cards and end up buying or
having to send back books that I don't want.

C: You should do like I did. I called them up and got on the
"Preferred Member Plan". On this plan I only get books when I send
back the card.

D: But the selections for joining are no good.

E. The best thing to do, for anybody who wants to join, is to find
someone who is already a member, and fill out the "sign up a friend"
form that members get. Then you get to pick your books from the
current club flier, which has a much better selection and includes
descriptions. And your friend gets a free book (or is it two?).

21. Recent Obituaries [discontinued]

[Up-to-date information is best found in the obituary columns in
LOCUS or major newspapers.]

22. SF ENCYCLOPEDIA et al

P Nielsen Hayden says:

I think we're all going to be confused about this forever. In a wan
attempt to straighten out what's what:

The original ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION edited by Peter Nicholls
(1979) had pictures. [In the US, this volume was titled THE SCIENCE
FICTION ENCYCLOPEDIA. -Joe Bernstein]

The completely revised ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION edited by John
Clute and Peter Nicholls (1993) has no pictures. [It has the same name
in Britain and the United States.] There is now a third edition available
on the web at http://sf-enyclopedia.com.

[John Pomeranz says that the trade paperback edition of this has
additional text and corrects some errors. There is also THE FANTASY
ENCYCLOPEDIA, a companion volume first published in 1997.]

[Dave Langford adds, "The 1995 Grolier CD-ROM edition of the
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION has pictures, audio clips, Quicktime
movies of authors, etc., in addition to the entire text of the 1993
edition of the ENCYCLOPEDIA, plus text updates amounting to about 50,
000 words, including some new entries. Corrections which appeared as
an appendix in the paperback ENCYCLOPEDIA are incorporated into the
main text. The 1998 Focus Multimedia reissue of this CD-ROM is
identical in content." A special reader is also available with
additional features; see http://www.ansible.co.uk/sfview/.]

The SCIENCE FICTION: THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA by John Clute (1995)
has tons of pictures, but is a completely separate work not based on
the ENCYCLOPEDIA. (I bet Clute was less than wild about the
publishers' insistence on giving this volume a name that will forever
lead to it being confused with the actual ENCYCLOPEDIA.)

THE VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION is a 1977 work by Brian Ash.

All of the above works are worthwhile. The ENCYCLOPEDIA is a serious
reference work; the VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA is a fun coffee-table book.

[end of Nielsen Hayden's comments]

Langford's ESF CD-ROM viewer software adds a heap of further
corrections, entries and partial entries lost in Grolier errors, and
later death dates.

James E. Gunn's 1975 ALTERNATE WORLDS: THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
OF SCIENCE FICTION. Illustrations. (Okay, so it doesn't
use the word "encyclopedia" and is more a "serious
coffee-table book," but it seems pertinent to mention it
here.)

James E. Gunn's 1988 NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION.
Illustrations.

Since this was written, even more have appeared. The latest (as I
write) is George Mann's MAMMOTH ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION.

23. What is the difference between "mass-market" and "trade"
paperbacks? Why do some books come out in trade paperback instead of
the more affordable mass-market format? What about A, B, and C format
in Britain?

What is the difference between trade paperback and mass market: the
channels of distribution. Trade paperbacks do not piggyback on the
ID system of periodical distribution.

("ID distribution" is book publishing jargon for "that part of the
periodical-distribution industry that puts cheap paperback books into
non-bookstore outlets, like the wire racks at grocery stores." It has
nothing to do with bookstores.)

How does size relate: It doesn't. The reason that a number of trade
paperbacks are oversized is that they are manufactured from the actual
sheets printed for the hardcover edition, but bound in paper wrappers.

Does being strippable make a difference: Yes. All mass market books
are strippable. Any book that is distributed through both mass market
and direct channels is strippable. [Strippable means that the retailer
needs to return only the cover for full credit; the rest of the book is
destroyed.]

Books that are distributed -only- though trade channels, be they
hardcover or soft cover, are usually sold on the basis of whole copy
returns.

To publish a mass-market paperback successfully, you need to sell
10,000 copies of a 25,000 run to succeed--*and* you need to do this in a
six- to eight-week period. Trade paperbacks can sell fewer, but even
more to the point, they don't have a time limit, since they are not
stripped by bookstores after six weeks. [culled from panels at
Boskone and elsewhere]

Or as Michael Kube-McDowell explained it:

The floor condition for successful mass market publishing is roughly
analogous to being able to fill a particular 50,000-seat stadium for a
football game on a particular Sunday afternoon.

The floor condition for successful trade publication is roughly
analogous to being able to attract 10,000 visitors to a new museum of
textile arts in the first six months it's open.

You can't have successful mass market publishing if people are
wandering into the stadium a few at a time from Saturday morning to
six weeks from Thursday, all expecting to see the same game--even if
the total eventually is enough to have filled the stadium.

What you get in that case is a 50,000-seat stadium that's mostly empty
(returns), which doesn't do much for either the team or the owner.

[Thanks to MK-M.]

And on the British side:

"A format" is the same as a US mass market size. "B format" is bigger,
sort of like an Orb book. "C format" is yuppieback, excuse me, trade
paperback, the size of a hardback but with a soft cover. Any of these
may be trade, same definition here as there, but "C format" always
are.

[The above was provided by Jo Walton.]

And now some additional commentary from me:

In the United States we have three basic "formats" for books: hardback,
trade paperback, and mass-market paperback.

Hardbacks (a.k.a. hardcovers) have stiff board covers under some
covering, often with an additional dust jacket. This covering used to
be cloth, so these are supposed listed as "Cloth" in ads and such.
They cost US$20 and up (give or take). The size varies, but most
novels are about 16cm by 20cm (6in by 8in) by whatever thickness the
length requires. Coffee-table books are even larger ones, usually with
lots of artwork and designed to be put on coffee tables (or perhaps
made into them).

Trade paperbacks have very thick paper covers, and paper similar to
hardcovers (actually often better, since they don't usually have the
ragged edges one sees these days on hardbacks). They are usually about
the same size as hardbacks, sightly shorter because the binding is done
differently, and without the added thickness of the covers. They cost
in the US$10 to US$25 range (generally novels are in the lower part of
that range, non-fiction in the upper). One feature several people have
mentioned is that in general they have the larger font of the hardback,
making them easier to read. There are also some trade paperbacks that
look exactly like mass-market paperbacks, but usually with better
quality paper/covers. You can tell they are trade paperbacks because
the copyright page will have a notice that they are not strippable.

Mass-market paperbacks have very thick paper covers, but cheaper paper
et al than trade paperbacks. They are usually about 10cm by 18cm (4in
by 7in) by whatever thickness, but there are also "large-trim"
mass-market paperbacks that are the same size as the standard trade
paperback. They are usually in the US$5 to US$9 range, but the
large-trim ones cost more. They are "strippable"--that is, bookstores
can rip off the front cover and return just that for full credit. They
are supposed to destroy the rest--not all do, and so some publishers
have/still do(?) require that they return the cover and the first ten
pages. In general the quality is poorer than trade paperbacks, with
glue that may give over after a few years, etc. Nowadays most, if not
all, mass-market paperbacks have a notice on the copyright page that if
you are buying a coverless copy, it is stolen property.

Konrad Gaertner adds:

And recently, publishers have started putting a triangle on the cover
next to the bar code, with an "S" inside if the book is strippable,
empty otherwise. This way people (esp. bookstore clerks) don't have
to look at the copyright page to determine the format. I've even seen
hardcovers (with and without dust jackets) with the empty triangle.

And a new wrinkle: according to Elaine Y. Fisher:

A "turtleback" is one of those paperback-turned-hardbacks that one
often sees in libraries, usually with the paperback color cover
laminated onto the front. One is now seeing this term on used-book
websites. [It turns out that "Turtleback" is the name of one of the
three companies that do this sort of rebinding; the other two are
Permabound and Bound-to-Stay-Bound.]

24. What do the letters "PJF" after Steven Brust's name mean?

PJF = Pre-Joycean Fellowship

The name is modelled on that of an artist's group named the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. A number of writers have appended it
including Brust, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Jane Yolen, Pamela Dean and
Neil Gaiman (this is not an exhaustive list). Many, but not all of
them are members of Minneapolis Fantasy Writer's Group, the
Scribblies.

In the words of Pamela Dean, here is roughly what the PJF is trying to
do:

"... we are trying to undo the separation of the so-called popular
values and traits in literature (which probably include straight-
forward narration) and the so-called literary values and traits
(which probably include stream-of-consciousness writing). We don't
always succeed; we don't always try; we don't feel that writers
doing other things are evil. But we are trying to reunite, in our
work, the popular and the literary. Every one of us has a different
definition of those terms and a different notion of how what we are
trying to do should be accomplished."

Will Shetterly adds:

"Good FAQ, but, uh, what's this Minnesota Fantasy Writer's Group? The
Scribblies are either just the Scribblies, or they're the Interstate
Writer's Workshop (which isn't true anymore since all the current
members are in Minnesota, but that was our excuse for calling ourselves
the Scribblies)."

And later:

"I keep fighting the impulse to discuss this semi-seriously. I think
I've lost. Unfortunately, I wrote a couple of messages which I
discarded and a couple which I posted, and I can't remember what was
in which. So here's the very latest attempt at the full history of the
PJF:

I may be wrong, but I believe the name was my invention. It was
primarily a joke inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. A number
of us were fond of talking about how frustrating it is that
bookstores, academics, and readers have a tendency to divide stories
into the categories of fiction and literature, or story and art, or
fun and serious work. We like the stuff that does both, like
(everyone's favorite, especially Pamela Dean's) Shakespeare, who
includes fart jokes for the rich and powerful and poetry for the
people (and vice versa, of course). We tended to think this
tendency to contentedly divide writing into two camps blossomed after
Joyce, whose work has a great deal for the educated reader, but can be
rather frustrating for the ignorant one. Keep in mind that when I
either created or agreed to the title of PJF, I did that as someone
who likes Joyce's writing a great deal (I haven't tried FINNEGANS
WAKE, and am in no hurry to do so). In retrospect, it might've been
better to use James than Joyce, or it might've been better to accept
the label of "post-modern," which describes our intentions as well as
any label. But also keep in mind that this was never meant to be a
serious movement; it was an excuse for a few friends to get together
and argue about books. We only succeeded in having one meeting at a
bar, where we had fun but didn't really talk about books much, and
then it would've all been forgotten if Steve hadn't decided to put
"PJF" after his name on one of his books, just as some of the PRB did
when signing their paintings. So it's an accidentally serious group
that's still primarily a joke."

25. Is Megan Lindholm writing under a pseudonym?

Yes; she has recently been writing as Robin Hobb.

[Provided by Sharon Kim Goetz.]

26. Who is William Ashbless?

Who is William Ashbless? Both Tim Powers (THE ANUBIS GATES) and James
Blaylock (THE DIGGING LEVIATHAN) have him in their books. Is this the
same character?

William Ashbless was a penname that Powers and Blaylock used to publish
cowritten poetry in college. When they both needed a name for a poet
character in their books, they independently used the same name. After
this had been pointed out to them by their editor, they got together
and added details to make it look it was the same guy.

27. Kilgore Trout

Kilgore Trout is a fictitious SF author that appears in several books
by Kurt Vonnegut. VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL by Kilgore Trout was written
by Philip Jose Farmer.

There are no other books by Kilgore Trout. After Venus was published,
many people thought that Vonnegut had written it. Vonnegut did not
care for this and refused Farmer permission to write any more.

28. Pronunciation of Cherryh

C. J. Cherryh's original last name was Cherry. The terminal H is
silent. The H was added because her first editor thought that Cherry
sounded too much like a romance writer. Her brother, artist David
Cherry, retains the original spelling.

29. Stephen Jay Gould and Steven Gould

These are two different people. Stephen Jay Gould was the well-known
Harvard paleontologist and author of several non-fiction books about
evolution. Steven Gould is the author of JUMPER, WILDSIDE, and other
SF novels and stories.

30. Sturgeon's Law

"Sturgeon's Law" is "Ninety percent of everything is crap." It comes
from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once
said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of
everything is crud." Scholars disagree on what word Sturgeon
originally used. In its first appearance in print it was "crud," but
someone present remembers that in the speech it was "crap."
See http://glinda.lrsm.upenn.edu/~weeks/misc/faq.html for more details.

31. What is the Thor Power Tools decision and how did it affect
publishing?

Contrary to what you may have heard, this has nothing to do with
inventory taxes. It has to do with claiming a loss on inventory
that is expected to become obsolete before it can be sold. This
loss reduces the manufacturer's *income* tax. The IRS ruled that
the manufacturer can't claim the loss on the overstock until the
market value actually falls below the manufacturing cost.

They want to claim the loss as soon as possible, because a dollar
now is worth more than a dollar in the future (because it can be
invested in the mean time). Not to mention the cost of
warehousing goods that you don't expect to sell. If the product
is currently selling at a profit, the only way to claim the loss
on the overstock is to scrap it.

[Thanks to Ron Bean for this summary.)

32. What is the best science fiction magazine to subscribe to?

The three most widely distributed [fiction] magazines are ANALOG,
ASIMOV'S, and F&SF. They concentrate (roughly speaking) on "hard SF",
character-driven SF/fantasy, and literary SF/fantasy. Your best bet is
to try a couple of issues of each and see which you like.

There are also several other magazines not as visible. Someone
said that REALMS OF FANTASY has the highest circulation of any SF
fiction magazine, but I have yet to confirm this. INTERZONE focuses
on British science fiction (not surprising, as it comes from Britain).
THE THIRD ALTERNATIVE is another, newer British magazine. AUREALIS
and EIDOLON are Australian.

33. How much do authors get in royalties?

Beginners sometimes get 6% on paperbacks, going up to 8% after a
certain threshold figure has been reached (often betweeen 100,000 and
150,000 copies sold).

Established writers, and beginners with tough agents, get 8% on
paperbacks, going up to 10% after the threshold has been reached.

On trade paperbacks, 7.5% is the standard starting place.

On hardcovers, most authors get 10% on the first X number of copies;
12.5% on the next Y number of copies, and 15% after that. For
hardcovers the values of both X and Y are often 5,000 copies.

So, for a typical hardcover priced at US$23.95, the author will get
somewhere between $2.40 and $3.60 on the copy you buy, depending on how
many have already sold. For a typical paperback priced at US$6.99,
the author will get 52.5 cents.

[Provided by Robert J Sawyer.]

Paperbacks normally pay the author 6% to 10% of cover price; hardcovers
pay 10% to 15%. Writers in obscure genres will sometimes take as
little as 4%, and tie-in writers split the royalties with the owner of
the original property, so that a Star Trek writer gets, say, 2.5%,
while Paramount gets 7.5%. (I'm not sure of those numbers.) Some
tie-ins pay the actual writer as little as 1%, or even just a flat
fee.

Additional note: Book prices get divvied up on a percentage basis.
Normally the retailer gets 50%, the distributor 10%, the publisher 40%
-- though there's lots of variation on that.

[Provided by Lawrence Watt-Evans.]

34. Who said:
-----
A. "He's a chimp! She's the Pope! They're cops!"

Michael Cassutt.

-----
B. "The Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12."

Peter Graham.

-----
C. "War God of Israel/The Thing with Three Souls"

Terry Carr, saying, "If Don Wollheim had published the Bible [as an Ace
Double], it would be ...."

-----
D. "Science fiction should get out of the classroom and back in the
gutter where it belongs!"

Dorothy J Heydt. She explains, "It was myself who coined them, and
the occasion was getting to about Chapter Two, Volume Two, of THE
WHEEL OF TIME, and shutting the book and giving the whole set (three
or four books at that time, I believe) to my niece, who had a long
train trip ahead of her."

According to Justin Bacon, "The first time Dorothy Heydt used the
words "I don't care what happens to these people" was, according to
Google Groups, in 1991. It was in reference to THE COPPER CROWN. The
first time these were referred to as the Eight Deadly Words was in 1993,
when she was discussing THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY."

35. Would the windmills in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" books work?

Or more specifically, in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" books, can the
windmills contribute anything to warming up the planet?

No. Not even a very small amount as claimed later on in the
series. According to RED MARS, the windmills convert one form of
energy into another--no conservation of energy violation occurs. The
problem is that they are irrelevant to the process of this conversion,
which happens quite efficiently because of the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, windmills or no windmills. That's what the growth of
entropy is all about. While the actual, secret purpose of the mills
was quite different, it is not credible that their official purpose
should not be exposed as a fraud almost immediately.

[Provided by Mike Arnautov.]

36. What's the world's shortest science fiction story?

Traditionally, the answer has been Fredric Brown's "Knock": "The last
man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door...."
This appeared in the december 1948 issue of THRILLING WONDER STORIES.

But there is a reference in an article by Anthony Burgess that cited,
"That morning the sun rose in the west." However, I suspect he just
composed that himself, and never published it as a separate story.
("Anthony Burgess on the Short Story," in Les Cahiers de la nouvelle
"Journal of the Short Story in English, janvier 1984, pp. 31-47.
Universite d'Angers,
http://buweb.univ-angers.fr/EXTRANET/AnthonyBURGESS/ShortStory.html.)

And Forry Ackerman claims he wrote the shortest one ever, titled
"Cosmic Report Card: Earth" consisting of the single letter "F". (In
the United States, grading is by letter: A, B, C, D, and F. Don't ask
me why E is skipped, though Jeremy Meyers suggests it is because it
would be too easy for students to alter an "F" to look like an "E".)
See http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m16/ackerman.htm for details; it
appeared in the June 1973 issue of VERTEX.)

37. What are the books that come up again and again in
rec.arts.sf.written?

Here are the high runners (numbers in brackets represent an estimate
of the number of mentions in rec.arts.sf.written in the last six
months of 1999).

[At this point--August 2000--I am adding J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter"
books. I haven't done a formal count, but my suspicion is that these
books will continue to generate discussion.]

38. What are good SF books for children/young adults?

There used to be a list at
,
but it seems to have disappeared.

Note that the question predates J. K. Rowling and the "Harry Potter"
books, which is what made me add it, but this still helps with, "My
kids have read all the 'Harry Potter' books; what next?"

39. Spelling

Here are the correct spelling of some commonly misspelled names:

Samuel R. Delany

Gandhi

Robert A. Heinlein

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Edgar Allan Poe

J. R. R. Tolkien

40. Are there multiple versions of "A History of the Twentieth
Century, with Illustrations" by Kim Stanley Robinson?

In the Acknowledgments for REMAKING HISTORY and REMAKING HISTORY AND
OTHER STORIES (published by Tor), it says, "'A History of the
Twentieth Century, With Illustrations' was originally published in
IASFM, copyright (c) 1991. The story has been revised for this
edition."

Thanks to Rich Horton, who actually found these differences:

Book version, pages 83-84 (the bracketed part is missing from the
magazine version, page 155):

... To the locals, he realized, the Orkneys were the center of the
world.

He bought a guidebook and drove north, [up the east coast of
Mainland to the Broch of Gurness, a ruined fort and village that
had been occupied from the time of Christ to the Norse era. The
broch itself was a round stone tower about twenty feet tall. Its
wall was at least ten feet thick, and was made of flat slabs,
stacked so carefully that you couldn't have stuck a dime in the
cracks. The walls in the surrounding village were much thinner;
if attacked, the villagers would have retired into the broch.
Frank nodded at the explanatory sentence in the guidebook,
reminded that the twentieth century had had no monopoly on
atrocities. Some had happened right here, no doubt. Unless the
broch had functioned as a deterrent.

Gurness overlooked a narrow channel between Mainland and the
smaller island of Rousnay. Looking out at the channel, Frank
noticed white ripples in its blue water; waves and foam were
pouring past. It was a tidal race, apparently, and at the moment
the entire contents of the channel were rushing north, as fast as
any river he had ever seen.]

Following suggestions in the guidebook, he drove across the island,
to the neolithic site of Brodgar, Stenness, and Maes Howe.
Brodgar and Stenness were two rings of standing stones; Maes Howe
was a nearby chambered tomb. ...

Also, the book version, page 62-63, lists the advance for the book as
a hundred thousand pounds, while the magazine verion, page 139, lists
it as eighty thousand pounds.

41. Novel, novella, novelette, short story--what is the difference?

The WSFS defines the categories for the Hugos as:

Novel: more than 40,000 words

Novella: 17,500 - 40,000 words

Novelette: 7,500 - 17,500 words

Short Story: less than 7,500 words

At a panel at L.A.con IV on the differences in different forms, Silverberg said that Edgar Allan Poe said that the essence of the short story is that one thing happens. A novel, on the other hand, has a confrontation, which leads to a new plot direction, which leads to a new confrontation, and so on. A novella, Silverberg continued, is a short novel (less than 30,000 words). It has room for the sub-plots and the richly developed ideas of a novel, but not enough to sustain a novel.
Silverberg also said that the novelette is an artificial creation of editors; the novelette and the novella are variant terms for something between a short story and a novel, he said.

(Contributions for addition to this FAQL gratefully appreciated.
Suggestions for things *I* should write to add to this FAQL are not so
gratefully appreciated.)

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